While Turkey’s import scrap prices have remained stable in some sporadic deals, the pressure on suppliers is mounting. Despite suppliers’ firm stance in negotiations, the number of available offers in the market is rising, with Turkish mills showing little apparent interest in these offers. As mentioned in previous reports, Turkish mills’ rebar sales have not recovered and their rebar prices have remained soft. Although some market sources believe rebar trading activity may improve in the second half of February, not all agree. There is increasing pressure on deep sea scrap prices, while more market sources think that the future trend of prices will depend on Turkish mills’ decisions regarding their capacity utilization rates.
Another ex-Baltic deal done by an Iskenderun-based Turkish steel producer has been closed for HMS I/II 80:20 scrap at $375/mt CFR. This ex-Denmark cargo is priced like ex-US cargoes due to the good grade of scrap in question. As a result, the ex-Baltic reference scrap price has once again remained in the range of $373-375/mt CFR.
“Some say the number of offers in the market has increased, but we see that the offers shared with Turkish mills are not softening,” an ex-UK/EU scrap dealer said today, February 11. Ex-US offers are at around $380/mt CFR, while ex-UK/EU scrap offers to Turkey are still in the range of $372-375/mt CFR, while being open to negotiation. “Each day prices do not decline is an additional cost for Turkish mills as their sales prices are not reviving. This is a tough spot for them. If they remain reluctant to conclude deals, at some point sellers may also re-evaluate their offers,” another ex-UK/EU scrap seller said. While scrap availability is expected to increase in the coming months with the approach of spring, it has not yet improved. Also, market sources report that demand received from the local mills in the scrap supplying regions is lively, causing domestic scrap prices to move up. “There is a standoff right now between suppliers and buyers. It will all depend on whether Turkish mills decide to cut their production rates somewhat,” another market player commented.
